The big, glossy catalog, anticipated in the mail by children across Canada for its colorful depictions of toys and games in time for each holiday shopping season, will soon be no more.

The formerly popular, now beleaguered retailer, Sears Canada will be officially closing its doors, due to bankruptcy, after 65 years. This includes the ones in the entrance of the Estevan 'Hometown' location on 4th Street. Sears in Estevan will be closing it's doors like others in Canada.

Wednesday, October 18th marked the point at which extended warranties will no longer be honored by the company. Many people will now be plagued with worry about whether their product can be repaired. Although the search is on for a buyer for the repair division, none has yet been found and no one knows what that will look like.

The court-ordered liquidation period starts Thursday, October 19th and is expected to last around 10 to 14 weeks, long enough to cover most of the Christmas shopping frenzy.

Sears Executive Chairman Branden Stranzl stepped down after a last ditch attempt to salvage what was left of the company failed. Now, the retailer is offering extra bonuses to managers who are willing to hang on to the very end, which is projected to be around March or April.

In June, Sears received court protection from it's creditors as it spent it's dying breaths trying to revive and re-inspire itself, and search for a viable alternative. The conclusion appears to be that there is not.

Local manager Shane Winter was not interested in commenting on the situation, citing that he has received very little information himself regarding the transition stage.

There are currently 74 full department stores, 8 Sears Home stores and 49 Sears Hometown stores, employing 12,000 workers. However, in Saskatchewan, only 124 jobs will be affected.

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